A "repeater" works in rooms where Wi-Fi does not reach. I was able to set it up in an instant even for the first time!

I was an amateur, too!

I was able to easily upgrade my home Wi-Fi environment. If you use TP-Link's Wi-Fi repeater "RE230", the Wi-Fi radio waves will spread to every corner of your house, making your work and games stress-free.

I didn't even know the word Wi-Fi repeater until I came across this product, but it was so easy that I could install it by myself, and it was well received by my family, so I will report it below.

What is this? : TP-Link Wi-Fi repeater "RE230"

How much? : About 2,700 yen

Favorite place: "RE230" is a compact type that can be plugged directly into an outlet.You can easily expand the Wi-Fi environment while using an existing router, and the price is reasonable.

Corona Weird: In the Case of My Home

Of course I use PCs and smartphones, but I was completely ignorant of how they were connected to the Internet and what kind of contract they had with which provider. Until now, my husband managed the Wi-Fi environment at home, so I enjoyed a comfortable internet life.

Yes, until Corona comes.

Since the first state of emergency was declared in Tokyo in April 2020, four family members will be present in a two-story single-family house that is not wide enough to compliment. In addition to the overwhelming increase in husband's work at home, children's lessons have been replaced by YouTube distribution and Teams meetings, and during the daytime, 3 laptops, 1 rasp pie, 1 tablet terminal, 2 smartphones and game consoles One of them was always in a situation of competing for a net line.

Wi-Fi blind spot problem

As expected, ADSL was not the same as before, and in June 2020, we switched to optical lines. This has greatly improved the internet environment, but there is only one problem ...

Wi-Fi radio waves did not reach the children's rooms.

The Wi-Fi router is installed in the LDK on the 2nd floor. So, I don't know if the Wi-Fi radio waves were blocked by the floor and walls and didn't reach downstairs, or if they interfered with the radio waves in the same wavelength band, but in any case, the children's room on the first floor. Radio waves may or may not come to the room.

Even when I tried to play Nintendo Switch, it seems that there were many cases where "communication error" occurred without connecting to the Internet. The game-loving boy seemed to be stressed by this unstable Wi-Fi environment, but on the other hand, the living room on the second floor, where the communication environment is stable, has become the workplace of his parents, so he does not hesitate to make noise. The dilemma is ...

When I consulted with the Giz editorial department, he learned this.

Looks good!

I decided to try the TP-Link repeater "RE230" at once.

Mesh Wi-Fi? Repeater?

Anyway, what is "mesh Wi-Fi"?

After investigating, it seems that it refers to an environment where multiple routers can be combined to expand the reach of Wi-Fi radio waves and seamlessly connect to the same Wi-Fi network anywhere within that range. However, in order to build a mesh Wi-Fi system, you will need as many routers of the same model as you need. This is quite costly, isn't it? For example, if you prepare two mesh WiFi routers, the cheap one costs 10,000 yen, and the expensive one costs more than 30,000 yen.

So this. It is TP-Link's Wi-Fi repeater "RE230". You can get it for around 2,700 yen.

A Wi-Fi repeater is a network device that relays the radio waves of a Wi-Fi router and relays it to a farther place.

In the case of my home, I should deliver it to the Nintendo switch in the children's room for the time being, so I decided to use this to expand the Wi-Fi environment of my home.

Connection of repeater is super easy

I was thinking that it would be difficult, but it was so easy that I couldn't beat it.

First, press the button labeled "WPS" on the Wi-Fi router you are renting from your provider.

Next, within 2 minutes, plug the repeater "RE230" into an outlet and press the "WPS" button on the side.

that's all.

You can now connect to the access point. Once the connection settings are complete, there is no need to reconfigure, so you can use it as it is even if you remove it from the outlet and plug it into a different location.

* "WPS" is a common standard for easily connecting Wi-Fi with the touch of a button.

I was able to play online!

After my son came home, I immediately installed "RE230" in the children's room on the first floor, and now I can play "Super Smash Bros." and "Splatoon" that I couldn't play before!

You can check the Wi-Fi sensitivity directly with the indicator of the "RE230" main unit, or you can check it using the dedicated application "Tether".

In the app, you can also use the "Location Assistant" function to find the best position for the repeater in order to optimize the Wi-Fi environment like this.

Basically, it seems that the Wi-Fi environment can be expanded to the maximum by installing the repeater at the position where the radio wave of the router can reach.

One of the differences from mesh Wi-Fi is the seamlessness of connection switching. Since the terminal side such as a smartphone is responsible for deciding whether to connect to the repeater or the router, depending on the situation, it may be connected to the router farther than the repeater. In the case of my home, as far as I checked with the Tether app, the terminal on the 1st floor was well connected to the repeater, and the terminal on the 2nd floor was well connected to the router, and it seemed that they could be separated.

By installing it at the foot of the stairs, it seems that Wi-Fi can easily reach both of the two children's rooms. I had just given my daughter, who is going to junior high school, a smartphone from April, so it was a pleasure for the whole family to improve the Wi-Fi environment throughout the house.

Wi-Fi options to suit your life stage

It can be installed so easily and costs less than 3,000 yen. Someday I'll be longing for mesh Wi-Fi, but for the current needs that I want to extend a little, repeaters were an economical and reasonable choice.

As your child grows up, it's important to prepare your home Wi-Fi environment to meet your changing needs. It doesn't make sense if you can't do it, but I recommend it because it's easy for even an amateur to install it.

2,508 yen